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"I broke her down and had her do it again and again, saying 'Go deeper, go deeper,' until she was worn out emotionally. Then I asked how she felt, and she said she understood that [an abusive slave owner] could take her body but not her soul, and she started to cry." Casting director Francine Maisler is describing her quest to put together five minutes of audition tape that would persuade director Steve McQueen that Lupita Nyong'o, an unknown actress, had what it took to embody Patsey, a field worker who obsesses a monstrous plantation owner (Michael Fassbinder) in "12 Years a Slave." The search had been long, and McQueen was thousands of miles away...

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"I broke her down and had her do it again and again, saying 'Go deeper, go deeper,' until she was worn out emotionally. Then I asked how she felt, and she said she understood that [an abusive slave owner] could take her body but not her soul, and she...